May 20, 2002
Rebalancing
Work and Life
“Balance is our life goal, not just a career goal. Sometimes we must take our minds or bodies ‘off-line’ to renew our spirits. Indeed our spiritual life takes time and energy and is as important as work. So are our families and friendships. Beyond these, we work hard and seek to achieve much more.”
From business students at Chualalongkorn University in
Thailand
I recently read a book titled Beyond
Juggling, by Sandholtz, Derr, Buckner and Carlson (1),
in preparation for an upcoming address on finding balance in a chaotic world.
In the book, a March 1999 study conducted by Rutgers University and the University
of Connecticut on work trends was quoted (2).
The study revealed that ninety-seven percent (97%) of all workers say that the
ability to balance work with non-work pursuits is important in a job; eighty-eight percent
(88%) consider it very or extremely important – more important than job security, health
and medical coverage, and total annual income.
My guess is (and my observation) that most
businesses spend little or no time developing internal programs to address these
overwhelming statistics. If a company were
trying to assist its employees in achieving balance, then they would also have to provide
techniques for the employee to first define what exactly they wanted to achieve (or
experience) outside the workplace. That would
involve an awakening of the soul to expose values, likes, character, priorities, and
intuition. Hardly the thing most businesses
are willing or equipped to do. Yet, if the
survey were accurate, then it would foster a content and probably very loyal workforce.
The authors of the book believe that just
like many skills, a person can learn to rebalance their life and not simply juggle their
way through life. They have reduced the
rebalancing strategies down to five. They
are; alternating (toggle between intense focus on work and intense focus on
non-work life), outsourcing (prioritize those activities in which one wants to be
personally involved, then find ways to hire out the rest), bundling (being involved
in fewer activities, but get more mileage out of those activities or “double-dip”), techflexing
(leverage technology to the point of conducting work from almost anywhere, anytime), and simplifying
(make a lasting commitment to reduce the time and energy devoted to nonessential
activities, whether at work or at home).
In discussing these strategies, they state: “Each of the five encompasses a different set of choices. These strategies are not necessarily attractive – nor, in some cases, available – to all people. Nor are they often employed in isolation from one another. Rather, successful rebalancers use them in combination to stay on course toward their definition of work-life satisfaction… We find it helpful to think in terms of rebalancing our lives – a process that we never quite get right and yet never abandon and in which small changes can have a large impact. Work-life balance isn’t an all-or-nothing phenomenon. It’s incremental, played out as the margins of our lives, where an hour or two per week to spend on the activities that matter most to us can spell the difference between feeling out of control versus tired but satisfied.”
Just knowing your soul without being able to act on where it guides you because your life is not balanced, is not very fulfilling. From time to time, we must consciously examine our path and rebalance our lives to experience life through an awakened soul.
With respect, acceptance, and love,
Richard
© Richard
D. Olson and Awaken The Soul, 2002; Edited by Janice E. Olson
(1)
Beyond
Juggling: Rebalancing Your Busy Life
by Kurt Sandholtz, Brooklyn Derr, Kathy Buckner, Dawn Carlson;
Copyright 2002; Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
(2)
To read this study, go to: http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/publications/Work_Trends_II_Executive_Summary.pdf